Guilt
by messychatterbox
Summary: Bellatrix isn't doing too well in potions, and she is assigned a tutor who she doesn't quite get along with.


**Bellatrix's potion was boiling over. Panicking, she picked up an ingredient at random and chucked it in the cauldron, hoping to stem the treacherous flow. The potion turned an emerald green, as opposed to the red-orange it was supposed to be. Professor Lauchworth clapped his hands together, silencing the room. "Time is up! Let's start with the front row...Mr. Lupin, fantastic as usual. Mr. Pettigrew, needs improvement..." Bellatrix squealed nervously, trying to find something in the instructions to help her.  
She heard snickers from the other side of the dungeon, and whipped her head around. The laughing face of her cousin Sirius met her glare. "Wow Bella dearest, I think you might get the award for 'Worst Potion Ever Brewed'. Too bad, I'm sure there were plenty of other bozos in this class hoping for it." He said loudly. James Potter smirked and turned to look at Bellatrix as well.  
"Mr. Crabbe, please add a bezoar to your potion immediately or I fear your cauldron might explode. And finally, Miss Black." Professor Lauchworth grimaced at the likes of her potion. "Not your best attempt..." He said. "Maybe I ought to assign you a tutor."  
"NO!" Screeched Bellatrix. She feared that he might choose Lupin, the stuck up git.  
"Excuse me?" Professor Lauchworth raised an eyebrow. "As far as I am concerned, I am the qualified professor here. Five points from Slytherin." He slowly walked back towards the front of the class. "Your homework for tomorrow is a 400 word essay on the uses of the potion we brewed today. Class dismissed!" He called. Bellatrix quickly packed up her cauldron and tried to leave, but she was stopped at the door by Professor Lauchworth. Behind him stood Severus Snape, a quiet Slytherin who excelled at potions. He was a snivelling wimp in Bellatrix's eyes, often the victim of pranks pulled by her cousin and his friend James. **

"Mr. Snape has graciously offered his time up to assist you with your potions work." said Professor Lauchworth. "You two can set a time each night that works for both of you."

Bellatrix glared at Snape. If she had to have a tutor, she was glad it was a Slytherin. But this Slytherin? This poor excuse for a human, who everyone knew had a crush on a mudblood Gryffindor? She was disgusted.

"Any time works for me." Snape said cooly, noticing Bellatrix's glare.

"NO time works for me." said Bellatrix. "Honestly Professor, I just had a bad day today. I don't need tutoring, especially not from him."

**"Five points from Slytherin for your sass. You are going to run the Slytherin hourglass dry by the time you're out of this room." Noted Professor Lauchworth gravely. "If you are too immature to set your own time, that is fine with me. You will meet in here every Thursday at 7:00 pm. I will check in on you every twenty minutes to be sure you are working properly."  
"Every twenty minutes? How long do you suppose it will take?" Asked Bellatrix, aghast.  
"I expect you to be studying in this room for around three hours each night, give or take."  
The shock and anger on Bellatrix's face wasn't hard to spot. Snape, however, remained expressionless.  
"Do you know what I could do in three hours?" She fumed.  
"Well, hopefully improve at potions. You may go to your common room now." Said Professor Lauchworth.  
"I...I'm...this is not the end of this!" Bellatrix screeched. She stormed out the door, but not before catching the smug smirk on Snape's face.  
She angrily stomped down the hall, ignoring a jarring call from Sirius that was directed at her. When she made it to the correct dungeon wall, she stopped and muttered "Serpent tongue." A doorway materialized, and she quickly stepped inside the Slytherin Common Room.  
"Ooooh, Bellatrix and Snivellus sitting in a tree!" Somebody cackled as she walked in.  
"Shut up! Like I'd go anywhere near that bloody dweeb if I could help it." Yelled Bellatrix.  
"Bella." Bellatrix heard somebody whisper her name and felt a tug on her robes. She turned around to see her cousin Narcissa.  
"Bella, please. Don't fight. Come on, let's go up to the dormitories." She whispered softly.  
"No way! No real Slytherin would step down from a fight like that!" Bellatrix hissed. "In fact," She continued, loud enough for the room to hear. "I bet you stupid Snivellus is crying right now!"  
"Bella! Turn around!" hissed Narcissa.  
"Not right now Cissy. 'OH MUDBLOOD LILY! WHY WON'T YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH ME?'" Bellatrix mimicked.  
"BELLA." Said Narcissa loudly.  
"Wha...Oh." Bellatrix turned around to see Severus Snape standing by the entrance the the room. She knew that he had heard the whole thing. But what did she care? He was a pathetic excuse for a human being...Still. She couldn't figure out why, but she felt the urge to apologize, beg for forgiveness even. Angry at herself for feeling sorry, she lashed out.  
"She'll never love you, you know." She said loudly to Snape. "Never. You're as ugly as a warty old toad. You may as well be mudblood...no, muggle. No, better yet, a squib, because that's how pathetic you are." She spit the words at him. His face crumpled as he ran up the stairs to the male dormitories.**


End file.
